* European finance ministers debate risk of crisis spreading
* U.S. federal holiday, financial markets closed
By Alejandro Barbajosa
SINGAPORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Oil edged lower on Thursday,
after rising more than 3 percent a day earlier on strong U.S.
macro-economic data, as concerns about European debt lingered
across financial markets.
A surprise rise in U.S. crude stocks last week also
pressured prices. U.S. crude for December <CLc1> shed 9 cents
to 83.77 a barrel at 0325 GMT, after rising $2.61 or 3.2
percent on Wednesday, the biggest percentage gain in four
months.
ICE Brent <LCOc1> declined 18 cents to $85.66.
"At moment the tempo is more upbeat than when we started
the week, but nothing has gone away," said Geoff Howie, sales
and markets strategist at MF Global in Singapore.
"The biggest fear is that if there is volatility in
European markets, that will derail the inroads that the U.S.
has made this year, like it did in May."
Ireland unveiled an ambitious austerity plan to tackle its
debt crisis and secure an international bailout, but officials
gave mixed messages on whether its debt crisis could spread to
other euro zone members or even endanger the common currency.
[]
Oil tumbled to 2010 lows under $65 in May as the Greek
debt crisis dampened confidence about the global economic
recovery. They rebounded to a two-year high of $88.63 on Nov.
11.
Earlier this week, prices dropped to near $80 after North
Korea's deadly artillery barrage targeting a disputed South
Korean island that boosted the value of the dollar and reduced
the appetite for riskier commodity assets.
"We still have to see the full response through to the
Korean incident," Howie said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency
meeting on Thursday to contain the economic impact of an
artillery attack by North Korea, while the United States asked
China to rein in Pyongyang. []
Initial jobless benefits claims in the U.S. fell to their
lowest level in more than two years last week while consumer
spending rose for a fourth straight month in October, reports
showed on Wednesday, fueling hopes the economic recovery is
strengthening. []
The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) is combining
trades for Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 into one single trading session
because of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose 1.03 million barrels in the
week to Nov. 19 as crude imports jumped by more than a million
barrels per day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
said on Wednesday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected crude stocks to
fall 2.1 million barrels, but the jump reported by the EIA was
much less than the American Petroleum Institute's report
showing stockpiles increased 5.2 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks rose 1.91 million barrels, the EIA said,
against expectations for a 600,000-barrel draw, and distillate
stocks fell 541,000 barrels, much less than analysts'
expectations for a larger 1.2 million-barrel draw.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
